YREKA, Calif. (Feb. 16, 2024) – The last laps Travis Peery turned at Yreka Speedway took him to a track championship.
The laps he’ll turn this year will be getting the big quarter-mile clay oval ready for Saturday night race programs featuring Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and Friesen Performance IMCA Northern Sport Mods.
“The track was closed and did not open in 2023 and that was tough. I can see the lights from my shop,” said Peery, Modified champion at Yreka in 2020. “A lot of people in the community missed having racing here. I’m a race guy and I wanted to bring it back.”
Located on the Siskiyou Golden Fairgrounds and just 22 miles from the Oregon state line, Yreka will host seven dates for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and 13 for Friesen Performance IMCA Northern Sport Mods.
Specials on the calendar are the $5,000 to win Rich and Nicky Biehn Memorial for Modifieds on June 14, which also features Sport Mods and IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars; the Wild West Speedweek date June 15 for Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Cars; and the inaugural $15,000 to win IMCA Sport Mod Western Nationals July 11-13.
“We rented a grader last fall and basically have rebuilt the track. With good weather, we’ll be able to put up a permanent fence in front of the grandstand and begin putting up a new wall around the track,” said Peery, who did track prep at Southern Oregon Speedway in White City last season.
“Along with good racing, goal number one for us this year is to make money,” he continued. “We have a one-year contract to promote this track. We want to sign three- or five-year contracts and to continue investing in what we’re doing.”
IMCA first sanctioned Modifieds at Yreka in 1992. Northern Sport Mods ran there from 2015-2022 with Peery’s son Ryan winning the last two track titles.
“We’re excited about this season, especially the IMCA Sport Mod Western Nationals. Yreka has never seen anything like that,” Peery said. “We’ve got drivers from as far away as Colorado and Kansas, as well as California, Oregon and Nevada already pre-registered.”
- administrator on Mar 01, 2024
- Article Date: 2/16/2024 by https://www.imca.com/2024/02/16/former-track-champ